National 05/22/16 kticradio.com: With “well over 500” cases of the Zika virus currently in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on “This Week” Sunday that “forceful preparation” will be critical to preventing further spread in the U.S. this summer. “We already have Zika in the United States. But it is travel related,” Dr. Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The concern is that we will have local transmission; in other words, people who get infected in the United States, get bitten by a mosquito, but who have never left the continental United States. We fully expect that that will happen as we get to the more robust mosquito season in the next month or so.” “We need to make sure that those local outbreaks don’t become sustained and don’t become disseminated,” Fauci added. “That’s the reason why we need to have a very, very forceful preparation right now before that happens.” The Centers for Disease Control released new figures on Friday showing that 157 pregnant women in the continental U.S. show evidence of possible Zika virus infection, all related to travel outside the U.S. President Obama has requested Congress to allocate $1.9 billion in emergency funding to combat the spread of the virus. “This is something that is solvable. It is not something that we have to panic about. But it is something that we have to take seriously,” President Obama said Friday after meeting with Fauci and other top advisers tackling Zika. “This is not something where we can build a wall to prevent – mosquitoes don’t go through customs. To the extent that we’re not handling this thing on the front end, we’re going to have bigger problems on the back end.” A vaccine to combat Zika would be the main focus of government funding, according to Fauci, saying “We’re right now very aggressively developing the vaccine.” – For complete article see http://kticradio.com/abc_health/dr-fauci-forceful-preparation-key-to-combating-zika-spread-in-us-abcid35694201/

Hantavirus:

New Mexico 05/18/16 krqe.com: State health officials say a 30-year-old man from San Juan County has died of hantavirus. New Mexico Department of Health officials also announced Tuesday that an 84-year-old man from Santa Fe County currently is hospitalized with hantavirus. It’s the third and fourth cases of hantavirus in New Mexico this year. An environmental investigation will be conducted at each patient’s home to help reduce the risk to others. Hantavirus is a deadly disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings or saliva. Authorities say the deer mouse is the main carrier for the hantavirus strain found in New Mexico. – For complete article see http://krqe.com/2016/05/18/state-health-dept-san-juan-county-man-dies-of-hantavirus/

This undated photo provided by the National Park Service, a deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). The deer mouse helps spread hantavirus to humans. Its head and body are 2-3 inches long, and the tail adds another 2-3 inches. Its coat varies from gray to reddish brown, depending on the animal’s age. Found almost everywhere in North America, the deer mouse likes woodlands but also turns up in desert areas. An investigation of the hantavirus outbreak blamed for three deaths at Yosemite National Park recommends that design changes to tent cabins and other lodging run by private concessionaires first be reviewed by National Park Service officials. (AP Photo/National Park Service, John Good)

Colorado 05/19/16 denver.cbslocal.com: by Matt Kroschel – Public health officials confirmed that a man from Rio Grande County who had been exposed to hantavirus has died. Co-workers told CBS4 on Wednesday that Mark Jones, a local Architect and Philanthropist who friends say is responsible for the recent downtown revitalization in Del Norte, died after being diagnosed with hantavirus. “Speaking of Mark Jones he definitely has left a huge footprint on the town,” said Jones’ friend Kevin Haas. “I think the repercussions will be vast and I think we’ll feel it for a very long time.” The rare respiratory disease case is the second in the San Luis Valley this year. A SaguacheCounty resident died from hantavirus exposure last month. Their deaths have prompted warnings from local health officials about the virus. Another person exposed to the virus is recovering in Montrose County. – For complete article see http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/05/19/man-dies-after-hantavirus-exposure-2nd-in-san-luis-valley-this-year/

Lyme Disease:

Northern New England 05/18/16 washingtontimes.com: by Lisa Ratke – Ticks that carry Lyme disease have reached into northern Maine and are increasing in Vermont, where the state’s entomologist expects cases of the disease to continue to rise and the insects to inhabit new areas. Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire are among 17 states with high-risk counties for Lyme disease. The reasons for the increase in populations are varied: climatic factors, land development patterns and hosts like deer and rodents. “Lyme disease is a real concern,” said Vermont state entomologist Alan Graham, who hopes to do a statewide survey of ticks this year. New Hampshire had one of the one of the highest incidence rates of Lyme disease in the country, with an estimated 1,373 cases identified last year, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. – For complete article see http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/18/vermont-expects-lyme-disease-cases-to-rise/

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD):

Wisconsin 05/18/16 hostmadison.com: by Steven Elbow – Matt Limmex has been hunting deer on his family’s land near Spring Green his entire life. But in recent years the satisfaction of bagging a buck has been tainted by concerns about chronic wastingdisease. “An older buck, you’re almost certain it’ll be positive,” said the 52-year-old Iowa County dairy farmer. “Or you’ll be surprised when it isn’t.” For Limmex the annual bounty of the deer hunt has become an exercise in carcass disposal. In recent years he’s been spotting “the droolers and the shakers” with increasing frequency. At the request of the DNR, he has shot down deer that were too sick to run away, and more often than not, they test positive for the disease, which destroys the nervous systems of cervids — elk, deer and moose — reducing them to bony shadows of their former selves. He hasn’t kept track of the numbers, but he estimates that he and his family have killed more than three dozen CWD-positive deer, at least a dozen of them in the last two years. And that, he said, has taken its toll on the once-sublime experience of shooting a deer for the family table. “It’s not much fun to be shooting sick deer,” he said.

Limmex lives smack in the middle of a 144-square-mile cauldron of deer and disease centered in Iowa County’s Wyoming Valley and stretching into western Dane County, one of the most CWD-infected areas in the nation. According the most recent monitoring data, if he shoots a doe, there’s roughly a one-in-four chance that it’s going to have CWD. If he shoots a buck, it’s essentially a flip of the coin. In the Wyoming Valley, the prevalence of the disease among adult male deer — those 2 ½ or older — has seen an annual growth rate of 23 percent since it was discovered in 2002. By 2006, 6 percent of bucks tested had the disease. By 2010, it was 20 percent. In 2015, more than 40 percent. Prevalence among does, for reasons still under study, is lower: just over 25 percent, but growing at a faster clip. The zone is so polluted with the disease that it’s in the soil, likely taken up in plants that deer feed on. And CWD’s geographic reach is expanding, stretching for the first time last fall to the Northwoods at a hunting preserve in Oneida County and popping up at an Eau Claire County deer farm in west central Wisconsin last summer. It’s been found to exist in 18 Wisconsin counties, but because of close proximities to the sick deer, 41 of the state’s 72 counties are banned from baiting and feeding deer in an effort to reduce deer-to-deer infection. Its global reach is expanding as well. It’s been detected in 24 states — up from 18 in 2010 — two Canadian provinces, South Korea, and most recently last year in Norway. – For complete article see http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/environment/some-fear-that-chronic-wasting-disease-is-spinning-out-of/article_fdd10051-8542-577c-84ed-81d83335cced.html

Florida 12/21/14 mypanhandle.com provided by FL Fish & Wildlife: A 15-year-old is currently undergoing surgery after being attacked by a bear in Eastpoint, Florida. According to her mother the teenager sustained significant injuries to her legs, back, neck and face and was transported to Bay Medical Sacred Heart in Panama City. “Even as I sit here now I can’t believe what happened,” said Sherry Mann, the girl’s mother. “The bears are all over the place and I know how hard I would fight to protect my kids, but a momma bear can do so much more damage than me with just one swipe.” Mann says her daughter was walking her dog by the Big Top Supermarket off Highway 98 when she says she saw a dark shadow and then black. She says her daughter was dragged into a nearby ditch by the bear and tried screaming for help. Sherry Mann said her daughter Leah Reeder remembered to “play dead” and as she did her dog came to her rescue lunging at the animal. The bear retreated to the nearby woods and Reeder was able to walk home to her father’s house, which was a block away. “The worst injuries are to her face,” said Mann. “She has a huge laceration on top of her head and one across her forehead and deep, deep puncture wounds to the side of her head.” As of midnight Monday morning Reeder had been in surgery nearly two hours. – See http://www.mypanhandle.com/story/d/story/15-year-old-reportedly-attacked-by-bear-in-east-po/13441/COd76GVsPkK409SP2VqWJw

HANTAVIRUS:

Texas 12/22/14 outbreaknewstoday.com: The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)is reporting a case of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in a resident of the Golden Crescent region along the central Texas coast. This is the fifth case of hantavirus this year in the state. Hantavirus is carried by certain species of ratsand mice that shed the virus in their urine, droppings and saliva. The virus can be transmitted to people by stirring up nesting materials or contaminated dust, allowing the virus to be breathed in by humans. Cases have been linked to cleaning out buildings where rodents live and working in dusty environments like ranches and oilfields . . . A total of 43 HPS cases have been confirmed in Texas since 1993, the first year the disease was detected. Of those, 14 were fatal. – For complete article see http://outbreaknewstoday.com/texas-reports-5th-hantavirus-case-of-2014/

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE:

Global 12/21/14 medicalxpress.com: Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere say that a vaccination they have developed to fight a brain-based, wasting syndrome among deer and other animals may hold promise on two additional fronts: Protecting U.S. livestock from contracting the disease, and preventing similar brain infections in humans. The study, to be published in Vaccine online Dec. 21, documents a scientific milestone: The first successful vaccination of deer against chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal brain disorder caused by unusual infectious proteins known as prions. Prions propagate by converting otherwise healthy proteins into a disease state.

Equally important, the researchers say, this study may hold promise against human diseases suspected to be caused by prion infections, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, kuru, familial insomnia, and variably protease-sensitive prionopathy. Some studies also have associated prion-like infections with Alzheimer’s disease. “Now that we have found that preventing prion infection is possible in animals, it’s likely feasible in humans as well,” says senior study investigator and neurologist Thomas Wisniewski, MD, a professor at NYU Langone. CWD afflicts as much as 100 percent of North America’s captive deer population, as well as large numbers of other cervids that populate the plains and forests of the Northern Hemisphere, including wild deer, elk, caribou and moose. There is growing concern among scientists that CWD could possibly spread to livestock in the same regions, especially cattle, a major life stream for the U.S. economy, in much the same manner that bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or Mad Cow Disease, another prion-based infection, spread through the United Kingdom almost two decades ago. – See http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-12-successful-vaccination-mad-cow-like-disease.html

LYME DISEASE:

New England 12/21/14 bostonglobe.com: by Patrick Whittle – Environmental factors and improved reporting methods led to another year of high totals for Lyme disease in northern New England. Reported cases are expected to be on par with, or exceed, records set recently in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Maine is likely to exceed last year’s record of 1,384 cases of the tick-borne illness, said Sheila Pinette, director of the state’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Vermont officials said their state is on track for its second- or third-highest total on record, following the 2013 high of 671. In New Hampshire, officials said numbers are falling in line with recent years, which included a record in 2013. – For complete article see http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/21/numerous-reports-lyme-disease-new-england/IxOdrlSz0P8MQjQu2U8t7J/story.html

California 10/16/14 capitalpress.com: Officials have confirmed that the black-and-white striped Aedes aegypti or yellow fever mosquito was found last week in Commerce and Pico Rivera east of Los Angeles. Last year the species was found in other parts of the state including the Central Coast and Central Valley. The mosquito is aggressive, is active during daylight hours, and is capable of transmitting the yellow, dengue and chikungunya fever viruses, though none of these diseases have been reported in Los Angeles County. – See http://www.capitalpress.com/California/20141016/yellow-fever-mosquito-reaches-southern-california

HANTAVIRUS:

Deer mouse

California 10/17/14 San Diego County News Center: Media Release – A North American deer mouse trapped in routine monitoring in a rural part of Fallbrook has tested positive for hantavirus, and County officials are reminding people to be careful if they ever have to clean up mice or rodent nests. The mouse was the seventh rodent caught this year in the county to test positive for hantavirus, a disease that can be fatal. People have very little chance of being exposed to hantavirus, despite the fact that it is common in San Diego County, as long as wild rodents stay in the wild and don’t get inside homes, garages, sheds and cabins. However, people can be exposed if they sweep or vacuum places where infected rodents have nested. That’s because hantavirus can be inhaled if people disturb areas where dust from infected rodents, dried saliva, urine or feces can be “kicked up” into the air. “The best way to protect yourself is to avoid exposure,” said County Department of Environmental Health Director Elizabeth Pozzebon. “But if you have to clean an area where rodents have been don’t sweep or vacuum. Use wet-cleaning methods.” – For complete article and precautions see http://www.countynewscenter.com/news/deer-mouse-fallbrook-tests-positive-hantavirus

EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS (EEE):

New Hampshire 10/15/14 NH Dept of Health: Media Release – Officials confirm the third human case of EEE in an adult resident of Manchester in Hillsborough County. The individual died in mid-September and is the second EEE-related fatality in the state so far this year. – See http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/media/pr/2014/10-oct/10152014eeecase.htm

Wyoming 09/15/14 go.com: by Bob Moen – A 31-year-old Utah man doing research alone in a remote backcountry area has died in a bear attack in the Bridger-TetonNational Forest in northwest Wyoming. Officials aren’t certain yet what type of bear killed Adam Thomas Stewart of Virgin, Utah. “I’m assuming grizzly, but we don’t have the bear so I can’t say for certain,” Fremont County Coroner Ed McAuslan said Monday. “At this particular time we’re still putting stuff together.” Fremont County Undersheriff Ryan Lee said Stewart was in a remote area checking on a research plot when he failed to return as expected on Sept. 5. He was reported missing on Sept. 7, prompting a search. His body was found last Friday between his campsite and the research plot, Lee said.

Stewart last contacted his employer on Sept. 4 from a trailhead, he said. Lee didn’t have the name of the company Stewart worked for. “It was a very short trip. It was basically an in and out type thing with at least one overnight stay,” Lee said. Stewart’s camp was found intact about 3 miles from where his body was found, he said. Lee and McAuslan declined to release what details led them to believe it was a bear attack. Jason Hunter, a regional supervisor with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said investigators saw signs of both grizzly and black bears in the area where Stewart’s body was found. – For complete article see http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/bear-attack-wyoming-kills-utah-man-25517661

New Mexico 09/17/14 NM Dept of Health: Media Release – A 50-year-old man from San Juan County is hospitalized with laboratory confirmed Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). This is the fourth case of Hantavirus in New Mexico this year. An environmental investigation will be conducted at the home of the patient to help reduce the risk to others. “This case is another reminder that Hantavirus is present in deer mice in New Mexico,” said Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Retta Ward, MPH. “I want all New Mexicans to make sure they follow our prevention guidelines to keep themselves and their families safe from Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome.” – See http://nmhealth.org/news/disease/2014/9/?view=136

Vermont 09/16/14 VT Dept of Health: Media Release – An out-of-state resident who was cleaning a poorly ventilated seasonal home last month contracted hantavirus. It’s most likely that the victim was exposed to rodent droppings that often carry the virus, which can become airborne during the cleaning process and cause a life-threatening respiratory illness. About one-third of those who contract hantavirus do not survive. – See http://healthvermont.gov/news/2014/091614_hantavirus.aspx

Colorado 09/18/14 Boulder County Dept of Health: Media Release – A Louisville resident has tested positive for tularemia after exposure to a dead rabbit while walking with her dog near Coyote Run Open Space in Louisville. The resident had a small cut on her knee, where the tularemia bacteria are thought to have entered her body. The resident was seen by multiple doctors after experiencing swollen lymph nodes, abdominal pain, and pain in the front of her knee. She developed a high fever, headache, and general malaise and was admitted to the hospital. Her condition has greatly improved, and she is recovering at home. This is the second Boulder County resident to test positive for the tularemia this year; nine people have tested positive for the disease in Colorado. In most of the cases, people were exposed to the disease while participating in outdoor activities, such as mowing or recreating in areas where sick or dead wildlife were present. – See http://www.bouldercounty.org/apps/newsroom/templates/bc12.aspx?articleid=4212&zoneid=5

Travel Warning:

Caribbean Basin 09/15/14 foxnews.com: At least 113 people have died in the Americas, with all the fatalities reported in the Caribbean region, after becoming infected with the Chikungunya virus, the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, said, adding that it was not yet clear if these deaths were directly attributable to the virus. In its latest report, which includes figures as of Sept. 12, the PAHO confirmed 55 deaths linked to the virus in Martinique since last December, when the disease was first detected in the Americas. Forty-nine deaths were reported in Guadeloupe, six in the DominicanRepublic and three in St. Martin, where the virus was first found in the Americas. . . . . . A total of 644,686 suspected and 9,640 confirmed Chikungunya cases have been reported in the region as of Sept. 8, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, or CARPHA, said. – See http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2014/09/15/death-toll-from-chikungunya-hits-113-in-caribbean-paho-says/

Connecticut 09/17/14 New Haven County: by David Moran – Police are seeking the public’s help in locating a man who dropped a bat off at a local veterinarian that tested positive for rabies because they fear he may have been exposed to the virus himself. An unidentified man left a box containing a live bat at the Mount Carmel Veterinary Hospital on Whitney Avenue in Hamden on Sept. 16 and then left without giving his name. The veterinarian chose to euthanize the bat and sent it to the Connecticut Department of Public Health where it tested positive for rabies. Hamden police said it is “strongly recommended” that the man who delivered the live bat to the animal hospital immediately seek medical attention to determine if he may have contacted rabies from the animal. Police describe the man as a black male between the ages of 18 and 25, standing approximately 5’10,” with a medium build and a “Mohawk-style” haircut. Anyone with information on this individual is asked to call Hamden Animal control at 203-230-4080. – See http://www.courant.com/community/hamden/hc-hamden-rabies-outbreak-0918-20140917-story.html

Texas 09/17/14 Brazos County: The College Station Police Department Animal Control is investigating twodog attacks. The first victim says she was visiting a store in the 1900 block of Texas Ave Saturday evening when she was bitten by a dog. The dog was described as being brown and fluffy, medium in size, and of unknown gender and breed. She was not able to describe the dog’s owner.

The second attack happened Monday afternoon. The victim said she was at the dog park on Rock Prairie Road with her two dogs. When one of them ran towards the pond, the victim said another dog, described as a red/white male pit bull wearing a red collar, charged at her dog and began attacking it. The victim grabbed the back legs of the pit bull to get it off her dog. The pit bull turned around and bit the woman’s right hand. Animal Control is asking for the public’s help in locating these dogs to allow for observation and rule out possible rabies exposure to the victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact College Station Police Department Animal Control at (979)764-3600.

National 09/05/14 breitbart.com: by William Bigelow – The scientific journal Nature Communications has published the results of a study conducted by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital that focused on an avian influenza virus that left harbor seals dead along the New England coast, and their findings indicate that the virus poses a threat to humans. The H3N8 virus that killed the seals was found spreading through ferrets in separate cages by respiratory transmission, which is not the usual case with avian flu viruses, so scientists are worried that it could be transmitted through humans in an airborne manner. . . . Avian H3N8 was responsible for a human flu pandemic in the 1880s. There has been no evidence that the 2011 version that killed the seals resulted in human illness, but there is another virus that was transmitted from seals to humans who were in close contact with them. The study’s first author, Erik Karlsson, Ph.D., warned that surveillance of flu viruses in wild and domestic animals needs to be prioritized. . . . In the St. Jude study, two of the three animals that were exposed to H3N8 from respiratory transmission became infected with minimum symptoms. Researchers also wanted to see if humans vaccinated against seasonal flu strains were immune to the H3N8 virus; they were not. The researchers asserted, “The transmissibility of the seal H3N8 virus coupled with the apparent lack of immunity makes this strain a concern.” – For complete article see http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/09/04/Seal-Virus-Threat-to-Humans

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever:

Pennsylvania 09/05/14 Dauphin County: Officials have confirmed that a child from the Harrisburg area who recently died contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which is carried by dog ticks. The disease can be severe but is rarely fatal if treatment with antibiotics begins within a few days after symptoms first appear. – For complete article see http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/09/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_m.html

Bear Attacks:

Washington 09/05/14 columbian.com: by Shari Phiel – When Longview resident Jerry Hause headed out for Monday’s bow hunting opener, he never imagined he would end up in a fight for his life with a black bear. Hause and his son Jeffrey, 26, drove into a remote, wooded area in the upper Abernathy Creek area about eight miles west of Longview in hopes of bagging deer. Hause, 60, has been hunting for decades, but he’s been a bow-hunter for only four. Hause was about to start driving game toward his son, who was waiting in a tree, when the unexpected happened. “I’d already hiked about three miles so I sat down to take a break before I tried to push some (game) back to him. I took my backpack off and sat my bow down and as I was sitting there I started looking around and … I saw a black head which I thought was a bear,” Hause said from his home Thursday. “I’ve hunted this area for 30-plus years and I’ve never seen a bear up there.” Hause said the bear appeared to be a cub and was 80 to 100 yards away. Knowing knew it’s unwise to come between a cub and its mother, he looked for a way to leave the area. “I stood up and in one motion that bear jumped out of the creek it was in and was on level ground with me. And as soon as it was on level ground it was on a dead run after me,” he said. He doesn’t know if the bear was the mother or the same bear he’d thought was a cub. Hause said he knew he wouldn’t be able to pick and aim his bow, and he wasn’t confident he could drop the 250- to 300-pound animal. His only choice, he said, was to climb the tree he had been resting against. “I knew the tree was right there, so I headed up that to get far enough up the tree that the bear couldn’t get me,” Hause said. Hause climbed several feet up into the tree. The bear followed, but Hause said he thought he was out of the bear’s reach until he looked down just as the bear bit into his left leg. “It totally amazes me how fast that bear got on me. In three seconds it was on me,” he said. Hause said the bear also tried to grab him with one of its paws and left claw marks on his leg. He said he realized he couldn’t climb any higher, so he grabbed a branch above him and held on. “I was thinking, ‘If it gets me out of this tree I’m a dead man.’ It was mad, it was growling. It was serious about what it was going to do,” Hause said. Hause pulled himself and kicked out at the bear with his other foot. Having heard on wildlife shows that sharks will sometimes stop an attack after being hit in the nose, Hause aimed for the bear’s nose. The maneuver seemed to work. The bear let go and dropped to the ground and then moved off. After waiting 10 minutes, Hause said he got out of the tree and began hiking back to his truck. Once he got to an area where he could make a call on his cell phone, he alerted his son and called his wife, who came and took him to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center. He was treated and released and is expected to make a full recovery from his puncture and scratch wounds.

Washington Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Bob Weaver said the chances of encountering a bear in the woods, let alone being attacked by one, are very slim. “This is are very rare incident. It’s happened before, but it’s a very rare thing to happen,” Weaver said. Statewide, there are an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 black bears. Weaver didn’t know how many bears there are in the Cowlitz County area. – For complete article see http://www.columbian.com/news/2014/sep/05/bear-attacks-bites-bow-hunter-near-longview/

Follow-Up Report:

(See: MAN and DOG attacked by BLACK BEAR sow in WEST VIRGINIA posted August 29, 2014)

West Virginia 09/04/14 newsplex.com: by James Gilbert – Just a few weeks ago a Staunton man had an encounter with a bear that sent him to the hospital. When we look back at bear attacks, they seem to be more like bear defense. “These are most often not bear attacks at all. In every single one of the cases in which we are aware, there’s been a human with a dog off the leash on public land,” comments Ed Clark, Wildlife center of Virginia president. In this case of a Virginia man being attacked, his dog was off the leash and ran towards some cubs. The owner’s reaction was to ‘rescue’ his dog, and momma bear took a man running at her cubs as a threat. “The dog was described as some kind of hero, well perhaps he did in fact save the owner from more severe injuries, but it was the dog who precipitated the attack in the first place, or more technically it was the human who failed to comply with the law about keeping the dog on a leash,” states Clark, who knows how smart and mostly non-violent black bears are. Dogs must be on a leash at all times on any public land unless otherwise noted. Many dog owners know this. – For complete article and video see http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/Bear-Attack-Might-be-More-Than-it-Seems-274024081.html

Florida 09/05/14 FL Dept of Health/Volusia County: Media Release – A suspect human case of WNV illness is under investigation awaiting state lab confirmation. The case involves a 34 year old female. WNV is most commonly transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. There are no medications to treat or vaccines to prevent WNV infection. – See http://www.floridahealth.gov/chd/volusia/NewsReleases/2014-wnv-extended.pdf

Mississippi 09/08/14 MS State Dept of Health: Media Release – Officials have confirmed five new human cases of WNV, bringing the state total to 24 cases so far in 2014. The new cases were reported in Forrest (2), Harrison (1), and Hinds (2) counties. So far this year, human WNV cases have been reported in the following counties: Adams (2), Bolivar (1), Covington (1), Forrest (4), Harrison (1), Hinds (6), Lauderdale (1), Madison (1), Newton (1), Rankin (4), Yazoo (1), and Wilkinson (1). Three WNV deaths have occurred, in Forrest, Madison, and Yazoocounties. – See http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/23,15578,341.html

Colorado 08/05/14 Eagle County: A 41-year-old man had lived in Eagle County for only two months before hantavirus killed him. Manuel Hernandez was from Mexico and was here on a work visa. His death makes him Eagle County’s first case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome since 2005, said Jennifer Ludwig, the county’s public health director. Coroner Kara Bettis said Hernandez’s manner of death was natural. He died a couple weeks ago, Bettis said. The investigation took that long because the Centers for Disease Control requires two sets of lab results to confirm a hantavirus death. “Hantavirus causes death in approximately 40 percent of cases,” Ludwig said. – For complete article and more re Hantavirus see http://www.vaildaily.com/news/12488973-113/hantavirus-rodent-areas-cases

Canada 08/05/14 Saskatchewan: An adult in the northern tier of the province has died after contracting hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. It is the second death and fourth case reported in the province so far this year. Hantavirus can be transmitted by breathing in contaminated airborne particles from the droppings, urine and saliva of infected deermice and certain other rodents that carry the disease. – For complete article and precautions see http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Second+hantavirus+death+reported+Saskatchewan/10091160/story.html

Chikungunya Fever:

Western Hemisphere 08/04/14 cidrap.umn.edu: by Robert Roos – The tally of chikungunya cases in the Caribbean climbed by nearly 38,000 last week, topping the half million mark, with the Dominican Republic again contributing most of the increase, according to an Aug 1 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The total reached 513,393 cases, compared with 473,523 a week earlier, an increase of 37,870, or 8.0%. Those numbers include suspected and confirmed illnesses that are locally acquired and imported cases. The vast majority of them—508,122 as of Aug 1—are suspected local cases. The Dominican Republic accounted for 26,012 of the new cases last week and more than half of all cases, with an overall total of 307,933, according to PAHO. Neighboring Haiti had only 50 new cases last week, all classified as suspected, for a total of 64,709. The death toll in the epidemic, which began last December, grew by 6, to 32. All 6 deaths were in Martinique, where the toll is now 19. The country’s overall case count reached 54,075, or 3,620 more than the week before. The total of confirmed local cases actually dropped by 524 last week, from 5,260 to 4,736, largely because of a decrease in French Guiana. The tally of confirmed local cases there sank from 665 to 89, while suspected cases jumped from zero to 1,194 and imported cases dropped from 216 to zero. Another Caribbean country that had a sizable jump in cases was Guadeloupe, where the total rose by 6,740, to 71,068.

In Central America, El Salvador reported 376 new cases for a total of 2,353. PuertoRico reported 390 new suspected cases for a total of 1,033. The numbers of confirmed and imported cases stayed the same at 215 and 17, respectively. As for the UnitedStates, PAHO listed 380 imported cases, or 18 fewer than the 398 reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Jul 30. The nation has had fourlocally acquired cases, all in Florida, including two reported last week. Meanwhile, imported cases in Mexico reached 380, an increase of 98, with local cases staying at 2. Venezuela reported 86 cases, with 30 local confirmed and 56 imported ones, compared with 57 a week earlier, according to PAHO. – See http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/08/caribbean-chikungunya-cases-climb-8-top-500000

Psittacosis:

Arizona 08/05/14 azcentral.com: by Chris Williams – Arizona Game and Fish Department officials want the public to be aware of a potential health threat following the discovery of the disease psittacosis, also known as parrot fever, in dead lovebirds in Scottsdale. Recently a Scottsdale homeowner reported finding 20 dead lovebirds in his yard. Game and Fish test results came in Friday, showing the birds had psittacosis. The disease can spread to humans and be difficult to diagnose. Last summer, it infected an east Mesa woman who used a leaf blower to clean up after some messy lovebirds, according to Game and Fish. She came down with a mysterious respiratory condition doctors had a tough time figuring out. When Game and Fish discovered psittacosis in dead birds on her property, that gave doctors the information they needed to diagnose her. – For complete article and precautions see http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2014/08/05/12news-parrot-fever-psittacosis-scottsdale/13624329/

National 08/01/14 outbreaknewstoday.com: by Robert Herriman – California has accounted for 33 percent of the at least 60 confirmed human West Nile virus (WNV) cases reported nationally, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). The Golden State has reported 20 human WNV cases to date from the following counties: Butte (1), Contra Costa (1), Fresno (4), Kern (1), Lake (1), Orange (3), Solano (1), Stanislaus (5) and Tulare (3). . . . To date, three people have died from complications due to WNV–Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri. – For complete article see http://outbreaknewstoday.com/california-accounts-for-a-third-of-all-human-west-nile-virus-cases-99491/

Texas 08/06/14 TX Dept of State Health: Officials have confirmed 15 human cases of WNV statewide so far this year. Seven cases are the more severe neuro-invasive form and eight cases are the milder fever form of the disease. Montgomery County alone has reported a total of six cases. – For a list of the other eight counties reporting WNV, and more re WNV, see https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/updates.shtm

Maryland 07/28/14 Frederick County: (Health officials are) searching for the owner of a dog that repeatedly bit a man Saturday night in Frederick. The incident happened Saturday, July 26, 2014 around 10 p.m. near Hillcrest Drive at Hill Street Park. The FCHD said they need to speak with the owner of the dog so that the bite victim may avoid receiving unnecessary post-exposure rabies vaccinations. The dog is described as a brownish, medium-sized, medium hair length, possible pit bull-mix that was not leashed. The dog was wearing a collar, officials say. Anyone who has information about the owner’s identity is asked to call the FCHD at 301-600-1717 or Frederick County Animal Control at 301-600-1544. Human cases of rabies are fatal if untreated. If you or someone in your family is bitten or scratched by a dog or cat, you should contact FCAC for assistance. – See http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/man-bitten-by-dog-in-frederick-officials-search-fo/27729/sDWUr9x_M0mhe3VD1SEH0g

Oregon 06/04/14 chicoer.com: by Jeff Barnard – Oregon’s famous wandering wolf has fathered pups with a mate in the southern Cascade Range — the first confirmed wolf pack in those mountains since the 1940s, officials said today. Biologists made the determination after traveling Monday to a site on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest east of Medford, where photos and a GPS tracking collar showed the wolf known as OR-7 has been living with a mate. They saw two pups peering out from a pile of logs and may have heard more, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said. OR-7 and his mate were nowhere to be seen but could well have been nearby in the dense timber, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist John Stephenson said. “It was pretty exciting seeing the pups,” he said. “OR-7 was probably off getting some food. We saw a couple deer (and elk) legs that had obviously been getting chewed on.” Scientists also saw some ground disturbance where the pack “clearly had been playing around,” Stephenson said. The discovery marked the farthest west and south a wolf pack has established itself since the animals were reintroduced in the Northern Rockies in the 1990s, he said. – For complete article see http://www.chicoer.com/breakingnews/ci_25897080/wandering-wolf-or-7-has-fathered-pups

Canada:

GrizzlyBear:

Not related to article. For size comparison only. National Geographic image.

Alberta 06/12/14 huffingtonpost.ca: A female resident of Jasper reported that her vehicle was attacked by a GRIZZLY when she slowed down on Highway 16 to let two bears cross in front of her car. The female decided to cross, she said, and the male stopped so she proceeded slowly between them. The male charged her car hitting it full force and rocking it violently. “I could see his teeth, the drool on his face,” she said. She told The Fitzhugh, a Jasper newspaper, she heard the bear’s claws scrape against the metal of her car as he sped away. About a kilometer down the road she stopped and could see the bears chasing after her. She told the Edmonton Journal that repairing the dents left in the car’s side panels would cost about $5,500.00. Parks Canada confirmed a similar incident about an hour earlier near the same location and they suspect the same GRIZZLY was involved. – For complete article and video see http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/06/12/grizzly-attacks-car-jasper_n_5488751.html

TravelWarning:

ChikungunyaFever:

Caribbean06/02/14 travelweekly.com: by Gay Nagle Myers -U.S. and Caribbean health officials report that chikungunya, a viral disease spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, now has reached 17 Caribbean countries with 4,406 confirmed cases and more than 103,000 suspected cases. The mosquito-borne disease first appeared in French St. Martin in December. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that Florida has reported 10 cases coming from travelers returning from Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Martinique and St. Maarten/Martin. To date, no case has been reported of people contracting the disease in Florida, “but there is a high likelihood, as we continue to monitor and investigate, that we will find some,” according to Roger Nasci, a CDC expert on vector-borne diseases. The CDC has placedchikungunya on its Level 1 Watch List in the Caribbean, urging travelers to follow precautions. The risk to travelers “is slightly above the baseline risk,” the CDC said. – For complete article see http://www.travelweekly.com/Caribbean-Travel/Mosquito-borne-illness-spreads-in-Caribbean/

West NileVirus:

Mississippi06/05/14 vaccinenewsdaily.com: A second human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in the state this year had been confirmed. The WNV case was confirmed in NewtownCounty. The first case was confirmed in HindsCounty in February. “This serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preventing mosquito exposures, particularly as we approach the historically active summer months,” Thomas Dobbs, an epidemiologist for MSDH, said. – See http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/medical_countermeasures/330914-second-west-nile-case-confirmed-in-mississippi/

Jerry Genesio

Author of "UNSEEN HAZARDS That Threaten Hunters, Campers, and Hikers: What you should know about pathogens commonly found in wildlife."

This is where wildlife and healthcare professionals, hunters, campers, hikers, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts will find interesting information about natural unseen hazards that place them at risk. As my book focused exclusively on Rabies, Tetanus (Lockjaw), Tularemia (Rabbit Fever), Brucellosis (Undulant Fever), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Borrelia (Lyme Disease), posts regarding these six diseases will be limited to more recent developments and items of interest that were not included or were not available when the book was published in June of 2009. Topics will also include Chronic Wasting Disease, West Nile Virus, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, and other diseases of particular interest to those who work and play in the great American outdoors.

Don’t Be Afraid – Be Aware!

The Natural Unseen Hazards blog is available to all free of charge and is maintained as a public service.

If you have questions related to pathogens commonly found in wildlife, e.g. the disease caused by a specific pathogen, hosts, vectors, symptoms, treatment, territorial range, etc., please comment here or e-mail to jerrygenesio@gmail.com and I will attempt to provide answers.

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
Louis Pasteur

Unless otherwise noted, images have been provided by the CDC Public Health Image Library, Wikimedia Commons, the National Park Service or other government agencies, Bing.com, and/or Google.com.

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
Marie Curie

"It's better to look ahead and prepare, than to look back and regret."
Jackie Joyner Kersee